Fiskebäkskil 30th June

We left Hyppeln on the 26th, and sailed the 9 nm to Marstrand, having kept clear of the well marked isolated rock outside Hyppeln harbour.

We started out under full sail, but as soon as we headed north, the wind was almost on the nose.
So, we wound in the genoa and motorsailed the rest of the way.
 On the way, a sailing ship from Liverpool passed the other way.Her name was hidden by an inflateable dinghy.

The way in to Marstrand was interesting, and we could see the huge fortifications overlooking the harbour - Carlsten Festninger. This site was fought over several times during the wars with Sweden. The Danes took it under the leadership of the Norwegian born Tordenskjol, but it was eventually given back to Sweden.

On the way in to Marstrand we were overtaken by a lifeboat, these have a fair turn of speed.

Our main reason for visiting Marstrand was to find a cash machine, but we had to take the little ferry over to Koön to find one outside a supermarket. It is a cable ferry.

 This harbour is one of the biggest sailsport centres in Sweden, and many regattas are held here. There are many fashionable shops on the front, and a boatyard on the other side. Marstrand is also home to many shipowners, and many foreign going ships are registered here - not that they ever come here!

The pontoons were rather low, so we deployed our newly aquired bow ladder, this has since been adjusted a little. Later we met many more low floating pontoons. We spent a very uncomfortable night in Marstrand, as the stiff northwester pushed the swell right through the moorings. The pontoons swayed and the Y booms bobbed up and down, so the boat bucked and snatched at the ropes. Marstrand marks the boundary between the Kattegat and the Skaggerak, so from now on the coast is open to the northern north sea.

We atayed just the one night here, then set sail for Skärhamn, which is on the western side of the island of Tjörn. Tjörn is a fairly big island with a bridge connection to the mainland. The route from Marstrand was winding and at times narrow between skerries - some awash. I don't think I would like to navigate these waters without the chartplotter! At least one person would have to concentrate on the navigation.

                                       A view of the outer skerries

                                          A tricky narrow turn

Just before arriving in Skärhamn, we caught a good sized sea trout - the evening's meal.

This area used to be full of fishing boats, after the herring which at one time was abundant. Nowadays, only the fishermen's huts are left and many are coverted for tourist accommodation. The few miles we sailed today were really beautiful, although it demanded full concentration.

                                           A rock monster waiting to catch the unwary.


We liked Skärhamn, it has great charm and gives full protection from the wind in all directions. We arrived early at Skärhamn, so we poked our nose into a little bay called Sunna holme, a beautiful anchorage, provided the wind is not from the southern quarter. We dropped the hook here and had lunch. We also watched carefully how the Swedes moor to the rocks, with a stern anchor out.

 I think we are getting a bit old for jumping off the bow onto the rocks with a rope! We found a nice spot in the harbour for the night, right in the middle. We were moored to the staging built around a huge boulder. This little islet housed the harbour office , and was connected to the shore by a short wooden bridge. We were perfectly sheltered behind the rock, even though it blew about 18 kn from the northwest.

                                            sheltered behind a rock
There was a large ICA supermarket a short walk from the harbour, there were also a couple of chandlery shops here, although one of them sold mainly clothing and sports goods. We bought two new lifejackets, a pair of "vanderstav" - nordic walking sticks, and a pair of Ecco walking shoes for Rie.

                                          Even the church had a happy face!

The next morning we set off again to Grundsund. This was a place we had visited by car a couple of years ago, and which led to planning this cruise. The distance was only 17 nm, but we anchored up for lunch in an anchorage south of Gullholmen. We passed through several narrow sounds today, incuding Kyrkesund, which was lined with many homes with their own private landing stages.

The approach to Grundsund was easy, the harbour lies behind a long curved mole. We moored alongside a Norwegian boat, and went for a walk through the little alleyways, characteristic of this place. We found a reasonable supermarket here too.

 

While in Grundsund, we contacted Thomas and Britt, whom we had met at my cousin's in Wales earlier this year. It turned out that their house was near to Fiskebäkskil harbour, so we made that our next destination though it was only 4.5 nm away. This is also a nice harbour to be in.

                                           approaching the harbour in Fiskebäkskil

They came down to see us, and we went with them in the car to their house for lunch. Their house was built in a beautiful location overlooking Gullmarn fjord. The wind piped up to near gale during the day, with leaves and small branches getting blown off the trees, so we were glad Restless was tucked up in a safe harbour. We had a fair amount of rain in the afternoon and evening too. The outlook for the next few days was also windy, from the south. As that is the way we want to go next, so we decided to have another day in Fiskebäkskil.

Hyppeln 25th June

The weather on the 23rd was still wet and windy on Björkö, so we stayed another day. The day before, we had forgotten that the forehatch was open wide when it started to rain, so the bedding was rather damp. It was time for changing the sheet and covers etc. anyway so we used the morning to wash and dry it all in the harbour's washing machine. We couldn't get the washing machine to start and ended up with the port captain coming down to sort out the problem - which turned out to be that we should have turned on the water! Oops! But he was very good about it, despite us having got him out of bed early on a Saturday morning.

In the afternoon we managed to get out for a walk, and we climbed up the cliff walk overlooking the harbour. There were some fairly recently built houses up there.

                                           Overlooking Björkö harbour

These were built on solid rock, which gave minimum effort gardens!

                                           Björkö harbour

On Monday the weather was a bit better in the morning, at least it was dryish. We decided to sail over to the island of Hyppeln for a change of scenery - only 2.3 nm way! And different it is too! The approach to Hyppeln is strewn with submerged and semisubmerged rocks and calls for careful navigation.There is only one village here - the harbour. It used to be a fishing community, but there are only a couple of commercial boats left now. Many of the houses are now used for holiday purposes but there are frequent ferry services to a couple of other islands and thence further to the mainland. Rie was definitely not impressed with the local shop though - high prices and doubtful quality.

 Hyppeln is much higher with rocky fells. We moored up bows to again, with fixed anchor rope, luckily there was someone on the quay to help us in the strong crosswind. We followed a walking trail in the afternoon, the best we have seen yet. The path follows the western shore and then doubles back over the top of the island.

                                            A ferry approaches Hyppeln

                         Not far from the harbour there was a sandy beach, and Queenie could not resist a dip!

The western side is quite green, with wild rose bushes and low growing juniper and honeysuckle. The path curved around the northern end of the island and we could see over to Rörö harbour, not far away.

Suddenly the scenery changed as we headed towards the middle of the island. We were now walking through a valley of boulders. The path was still easy to walk though, as it was even and dressed with stone chippings. Queenie loved exploring all the nooks and crannies. At one point she found the discarded skin of a snake!

As we dropped down toward the southern side, the scene changed again as we came down to the shore.
As we rounded the southern tip, the shoreline was strewn with smaller stones, which reminded me of the Chesil bank to the west of Portland, England

Eventually the stones petered out, and we came to a meadow area, still strewn with rocks but in between was a rich variety of flowers. Later we found a small field with black sheep sheltering from the wind in a makeshift shelter. We were now back among houses, and it is amazing the lengths some people go to in individualising their terraces!

When we arrived back at the harbour, it was almost deserted of visiting craft. This was the last day of the Swedish midsummer holiday weekend, so most of the boats had sailed back to Gothenberg.

It is now mid afternoon on the 25th, and it has not stopped raining yet today. We now have a German Najad 360 as neighbour ( they crossed from Læsø, Denmark yesterday ). We are considering donning our wet weather suits and going for a walk. Fortunately the weather man (Norwegian Met Office) is promising warm sunny weather the next three days, so we plan to sail to Marstrand tomorrow.

Björkö 22nd June

We left Donsö on the 20th and sailed round the eastern side of the island and around the northern end to Styrsö. It was a nice sunny day, with a good breeze from the northwest. When we arrived in Tången harbour, the wind came directly through the sound, and the berths outside the floating pontoon looked very uncomfortable. We decided to continue to Sandvikhamn, which is just around the corner, and try our luck there. We were very glad we did, as Sandvikhamn offered perfect shelter. We moored alongside the quay which had a guest sign on.

Our reason for coming to Styrsö was that we knew some people who live here. We had met Maria and Joel at Laust's birthday party a few years ago. They have spent many years as archaeologists on Greenland, but have now retired and built a house in Sandvik. They came down for a coffe on board, and afterwards we walked together up to their house built on the cliffs, overlooking the harbour. On the way, Maria showed us her little clinker built rowing boat, which they use for visiting friends on neighbouring islands.

Their house was built almost entirely of timber, as is the practise here. Their terrace was built on their boundary line above the house - this gave fantastic views out to sea, including the island of Vinga, which is the westernmost part of Sweden. Vinga lighthouse was the childhood home of Evert Taube, a famous musician.

                                                  Maria and Joel's house
                                         

                                            Enjoying a drink on their terrace.

                                                                           

                                           The view down to Sandvik harbour.



Marie had offered the use of her washing machine, so we took a bag of dirty washing with us! It wasn't finished when we left, so she brought the dried and folded washing down to us next morning. It was a beautiful sunny morning - the warmest yet this year . After Rie had been for a swim from the nearby bathing place ( still cold water ), we set sail for Björkö - a larger island further north. We negotiated the narrow sound between Stora Kånsö and Vargö and then up Dana Fjord , passing Öckerö and north to Björkö.
The distance was only about 9 nm and the wind was more or less on the nose. So we motored slowly, trailing our fishing line, but we didn't catch our supper this time.


Björkö fishing harbour sits in a corner, protected by a rocky islet. Visitors are encouraged to moor to a wooden stageing, with a fixed pick up anchor rope astern. We had seen this form of mooring in Spain, so we knew the drill! Our berth was a little "dangerous" in that it was just behind an ice cream booth. The young girl from the booth came over with an ice cream tub that was almost empty, for us to scrape clean. This we duly did!

                                          Björkö fishing harbour, with ice factory at left

Björkö has a chandler, an ICA supermarket and about three eating places. What it does lack is a cash machine, and this is a common problem hereabouts. We have been told there is a cash machine in Öckerö and in Marstrand. Fortunately we can get by with our Danish bank card.

Today is celebrated as midsummer's day in Sweden, and the harbour is pretty full with visiting boats. In the morning we went for an hour's walk along the cliffs, there was heavy traffic of yachts sailing north.

We had intended going up to the local football ground to see the raising of the traditional midsummer pole, decorated with leaf garlands and flowers. However, in the afternoon, the heavens opened so we stayed on board and played Yatzi ( a game played with 5 dice ) Rie didn't like being beaten though!
We plan to move on tomorrow.

Donsö 19th June

We left Glommen on the 16th with 12-15 knots of wind on the beam, so we made good speed northwards under sail. We arrived in Bua harbour at 1430, and found a berth with stem to the quay, and a buoy astern. We didn't think this was such an interesting harbour, but there was a good ICA supermarket within walking distance. Also there was a diesel pump on the quay.

The next day we set sail for a little natural harbour called Mönster some 9 nm away. Again a fast sail with a 15knot tail wind. The entrance from the west was a bit torturous between the offlying rocky islets, but we made it up to the tourist buoys at the inside end of the sound. Although the sea conditions were quite rough outside, there was complete calm in the sound. During the afternoon, we had torrential rain and a thunderstorm.



 

Opposite us on the little island of Hesteholm, was a nesting pair of Swans, but they didn't take any notice of us. We went ashore in the dinghy with Queenie a couple of times, but in the evening we got talking to a couple of boats that had tied up to a mooring platform. It turnred out that this was owned by a local sailing club, and they offered to help us in. So we motored back in the dinghy to fetch Restless. The procedure was to drop a stern anchor and motor right in to the platform with the stem. This made getting the dog ashore very much easier.

 The other boats left early next morning, leaving this wild place to ourselves. We walked to the top of the rocky point, where there was an old pilot look-out post. The view was fantastic in all directions!

 We stayed another night in Mönster sound, taking several walks on the rocks, and enjoying the quietness. There were some wooden cottages about - used as holiday places, but there was no road access. We saw one family load up their dinghy and sail away home.

The next morning, the 18th, We let go the ropes forard, and hauled up the stern anchor, which came up reluctantly! Our stern anchor is a Fortress aluminium anchor and seems to dig in quite well. We have it attached to an "Anchorline! reel  with webbing, but we have a few meters of chain at the business end.

The wind was blowing a good 15 knots again as we left the sound. The first leg was a cracking sail, with the wind abeam, but when we turned north, we had the wind and waves on the port quarter and that made for an uncomfortable rolly sail. We sailed around and in between various skerries until we eventually reached Donsö.

This tuned out to be a pleasant surprise. Donsö, which is a small island attached to the larger island of Styrsö by a bridge, is remarkably well organised. There are 15 shipping lines registered here including Stena Line! There are also several deep sea trawlers based here.An amazing number of ferries call in from offlying islands, and there is a larger ferry to Gothenberg.
There is a remarkably well stocked supermarket, and a bowling alley, plus a pizzeria. The toilet/ shower facilities are first class, and there is free internet wifi.

 There is a thriving community here, many of the residents commute to gothenberg on the ferry each day though. The size of the mission church suggests a strong congregation.
 There appear to be no private cars on the island - only electric mini electric cars and mopeds with front load platforms which zoom around all over the place. It is amazing what they can carry on these mopeds.

 



This harbour has a washing machine - not so common in these islands - so today was
declared washday.
This afternoon, I walked a 5km nature trail through woods and over rocks on the southern end of the island. The views to sea in all directions were aweinspiring.

  watching a ferry sail between the skerries

Today has been really sunny, but this morning it was blowing 25 knots, but it has heen a wonderful day.

Glommen 14th June

We left Hallands Väderö yesterday under sail, the anchor came up nice and clean from the fine sand.We sailed back towards Torekov, passing to the south of all the skerries, Then we headed north west, but after an hour or so the wind died on us and we used the iron topsail. The fishing line was set out as usual, but we only caught a small mackerel, which we threw back to grow bigger. In the afternoon, the wind came back, and we were able to shut down the engine. In fact we made good speed, and by the time we came up to the little fishing harbour of Glommen it was blowing a good 15 knots. We first found a berth just behind the sea wall, but there was no water or electricity there. On looking around, we found a nice little hammerhead berth which was much more convenient. I was feeling really tired and had a slight temperature, so I retired to my bunk early.

Today we woke up to the noise of the wind and rain, so we decided to stay here for the day. It is Queenie's birthday today, so a fine excuse for a cake! Rie went into baker mode and produced a fine cake and baked a ryebread loaf. Queenie enjoyed a slice and her bowl was licked clean after her first slice! By the way, Queenie is the ship's dog and she is 5 years old today. I don't think she will get the chance to eat much more though - it tastes too good!

                                           From the onboard bakery!
 The weather  forecast looks a bit better for tomorrow.

Hallands Väderö12-06-12

We are now in Sweden. Our trip started on the 7th with a short sail to Hundested for restocking the boat. There the supermarkets are near the harbour, so goods can be loaded directly on board. We stayed an extra day, as there was forecast heavy rain and stron winds the next day. On Saturday, we sailed to Gilleleje, setting off early to avoid the heavy rain forecast for the afternoon. We found an alongside berth in the old fishing harbour, and the next day our daughter came with her husband and two boys to see us before we sailed to Sweden.

On Monday 11th June we set sail again , passing the headland of Kullen before coming to Torekov. We had another good sail, with a nice beam wind but a lumpy sea.We found an alongside berth again in the inner basin, and enjoyed the peace an quiet. Again very few visiting boats.

There is a local legend that recalls the drowning of a young Danish princess Tora, who had been put on a boat with her two siblings Arild and Gille by their wicked stepmother. The boatman had been instructed to murder them. Thora's body was washed ashore her near Thora's stone, and the town is named after her. Arild was washed ashore in Arild , and Gille in what is now called Gilleleje in Denmark.

The following morning we motered over to the offlying group of islets, called Hallands Väderö. The main island has a forest on it and some holiday houses, the other islets are just bare rock. There are possibilities for anchoring between the rocks or to tie up directly to a rock with a stern anchor out. We chose to anchor, as we thought it would be easier to get our dog Queenie ashore by dinghy.